Chennai, Sept 8:
The Tamil Nadu government has selected a 21.37-acre Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) site at Pattinapakkam for construction of the proposed new Secretariat and Assembly complex, a major step towards shifting the State’s administrative headquarters from the historic Fort St George. The project, announced by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in the Assembly recently, is estimated to cost Rs 1,200 crore.
The selected site is located along an access road from Santhome Main Road in Pattinapakkam and belongs to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board. The government had earlier examined three locations for the ambitious project ā the Pattinapakkam site, the Highways Research Station campus in Guindy, and land at Nandambakkam opposite the Fintech City. The Pattinapakkam site has now emerged as the preferred location.
The proposed project is intended to provide an integrated complex for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and Secretariat, replacing the present arrangement at Fort St George. Chief Minister Vijay had announced the construction of the new complex during the Assembly session, but had not disclosed the location at the time. The government has proposed the project as a modern administrative facility capable of meeting the State’s requirements for several decades.
The existing Secretariat functions from the historic Fort St George, built during the British period.